;?.'^ Shearsbv. Recent Travertin Forinntions. Yoss. [vo)''\k'x'vil 



(it tlK\sc deposits. Several factors hear on tlic Mil>itct, chici 

 of wliich is tlie varying amount of carbonate of lime carried 

 in the water, partly dependent upon the minimum or maximum 

 amount of rainfall in the area. In the present case it would be 

 interesting to note, over a period of a few seasons, the variation 

 in the amount of the deposit laid down, as an index to the 

 rapidity of such formation imder average conditions. 



It may not l)e out of place to mention here a case of sudden 

 cessation of a travel tin deposit due to diversion or spreading 

 of the stream or spring, at a locality the writer visited at 

 Blashenwell, in Dorset.* This travertin deposit had been 

 forming for many centuries, sealing up relics of Neolithic times, 

 as seen in the enclosed bones of pig, red deer, roe deer, and a 

 large ox used for food, together with fiint fiakes, limpet shells, 

 and charcoal. The succeeding layer of black soil contained 

 Roman coins at the base, and these remained silent witnesses 

 of the period when the spring had ceased to deposit tufa. 



A Rake Ak.achnid. — When at Walhalla last month I came 

 across the curious arachnid exhibited this evening. It was 

 found under a large stone in a very wet situation, having for 

 company three small frogs. This arachnid can easily be dis- 

 tinguished from the Araneida by the cephalothorax and 

 abdomen not being pedunculated, as in the latter. It belongs 

 to the order Phalangiidit : members of this order are often 

 possessed of extremely long legs, but in this specimen the legs 

 are of only moderate length. It possesses the typical characters 

 of the Phalangiidie in having only two eyes, placed on a small 

 tower-like prc^cess on top of the cephalothorax, and having 

 the mandibles armed with pincers, and an abdomen consisting 

 of six segments. Each segment is papillose and of a cori- 

 aceous nature, which gives the abdomen a roughened app(\irance, 

 very different from the pilos(; covi-ring usual to tlu^ abdomen 

 of a spider. The maxilke are also very large and powerful ; 

 these arc opposed to each other so as to act as crushing jaws. 

 The second pair of legs have the tarsi composc^l of numerous 

 small segments in somewhat similar manner to the tarsi of the 

 hrst pair of legs of the tropical Whip Scorpions of the order 

 Pedipalpi. The second specimen in the box is a small species 

 fairly common in parts of Victoria, but the large specimen is 

 the first I have seen, and is probably an undcscrilied species. — 

 H. W. Davey, F.E.S. loth May, 1920. 



* t Icmc-nt Rcid, Proc. Dorset Field Club, vol. xvii., 1S96, p. 07. .\lso 

 Strahan, Cieoi. 1. of I'lirheck, iSgS, \^p. 210, jii. 



